Tim the Mute, Gone Cosmic, and Heather May
Tim the Mute
Tim The Mute’s Fucky Sucky Free-for-all // Kingfisher Bluez
Tim Clapp has completed a trilogy. Owner of a bookstore called Reasons to Live Books, mastermind behind the label Kingfisher Bluez, and prolific DIY maker of music under the name Tim The Mute, he has now released his final album in the trilogy inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. This third installment, paying homage to Dante’s Paradiso, is a raucous rollercoaster ride through Clapp’s very own vision of paradise, gloriously titled Tim The Mute’s Fucky Sucky Free-for-all.
The songs range from straight ahead power pop, like the charmingly fervent “Fuss”, to the lushly spaced-out electronics and beats of “George Jones” and “My Sign”. On lead single “When We Fuck For God”, Clapp offers something approaching a thesis statement for the album: featuring the brilliant and bizarre Kristen Witko, the song’s two-chord jauntily strummed guitar has all the makings of a campfire sing-along about orgies. The vocals wander in and out of key, the syllables stumble to fit into the verses, and the whole thing is perversely hilarious (note the cheeky “clap” keeping time). But for each stroke of silliness, there is one that is equally sincere. Songs like the heartfelt “FWB” and album closer “Back to Me” balance out the playful sides to the record, taking the sour with the sweet.
Instead of divine inspiration, the songs are decidedly, deeply human, full of humour and sleaze, strangeness and self-examination, life and death— to write an album about paradise, Clapp turned to love and friendship, sex and touch. This humanity is rendered, warts and all, through anecdotes and misadventures, anthems and ballads, encapsulated in lines about a lover who takes Dexedrine to finish reading Moby Dick, and in a story about a date told in a three act structure revolving around a Big Star tune. While, as a vocalist, Clapp’s performance at times misses the mark, his willingness to be vulnerable is why the album works. He invites you into the bedrooms, the cars, and the couches of his love life, bringing with him a host of characters that are confidants and companions, lovers and friends. It is not always comfortable, but it is, above all, real. This is Tim The Mute’s paradise, after all.
- Harman Burns
Gone Cosmic
Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling // Self-Released
Starting off with a punishing percussion salvo courtesy of wunderkind drummer Marcello Castrunovo, Gone Cosmic’s latest effort, Send For a Warning, the Future’s Calling immediately sets a relentless pace that rarely flags across the bulk of their stellar sophomore effort. With time-bending riffs, punishing bass and the absolutely scorching vocals of dynamo singer Abbie Thurgood, this stoner-prog-metal outfit practically defines the concept of tightness in a band.
Catching the group recently at their Palomino Smokehouse album release, I was struck by the almost psychic cohesiveness of the unit, their deep precision grooves seeming almost second nature (it doesn’t hurt that axemen Darty Purdy and Brett Whittingham have been practically joined at the hip for years through their long running stoner rock band Chron Goblin). There’s something buoyantly triumphant about their live show that I expect often comes from bands with a close knit friendship, and watching their recent show very much felt like getting let into a cool secret club.
An early standout on the album is third track, “Envy Thrives” a brooding, single-worthy banger with a percolating, cyclical bass riff from Brett and searing guitar leads punctuated by some genuinely funky drum breaks. “I’ve never been pushed far enough to break” sings Thurgood on following track “Causeway,” a defiant statement song moored by the type of “fuck around and find out” vocals that make Thurgood’s rhetoric easy to accept.
A great example of the laser precision of the group can be found midway through “The Wrong Side of Righteous,” where a cascading guitar line meshes with the drums and bass for a heady, time-bending excursion that gave major Fly By Night era Rush energy. “To Refuse Compromise” is a straight ahead metal workout with a delightfully weird, non-shreddy guitar solo and crisp breakbeat drums that really crack your kneecaps.
The band stretches out for the final two tracks, pushing the song lengths past the five minute mark for a pair of epic compositions that lean more heavily into the “cosmic” aspect of the band. Darty unleashes the full wrath of his guitar skills on “Taste For Tragic” over a pounding doubletime punk beat, while closing track “The Future’s Calling” fully commits to entering the tripper zone, with a meditative psych jam overlaid with a spoken word screed, singer Thurgood declaring “I’ve always been a misfit,” and “why is it programmed that we are not good enough” as the music escalates towards a point of crisis. Seeing this one live was the highlight of the album release for me, a communal catharsis that had the entire crowd solidly on the band’s side and in the palm of Thurgood’s clenched fists.
If you’ve seen these guys live (and you really must) it’s my opinion that you’ll find the album a very accurate representation of their stage sound. Rather than engage in a ton of studio trickery, the band have chosen to put together what feels very much like a well-recorded version of their live act (albeit on a night with a very sympathetic sound tech) and focuses, rightfully so, on their tight, cohesive playing and dynamic energy.
- Shaun Lee
Heather May
Folk Revival // Self Released
From front to back, Folk Revival is a catharsis. It is a connection between human emotion and the beauty of nature surrounding us, with songs like “To Kill A Mockingbird”, “Colour Of The Moon”, and “Sycamore Baby”, Heather May not only takes us on a journey of internal reflection and exploration but traces these maps of feeling out using common natural symbols we are familiar with. Think of your favourite nature hike or painting, or Discovery Channel episode, and blend that with the earnest thoughts of a strong and beautiful songwriter. The force and purpose behind Heather May’s music is to find beauty in pain, truth in experience, and to explore the overlap between within and without. And she does so seamlessly.
A child of the prairies and a lover of that classic folk sound, Folk Revival shows off Heather’s classic warble and delicate melodies in a newer, brighter light. Taking a slightly different approach than her first full length album, For Mark, this record keeps that same level of intimacy and raw emotion, while telling new stories and thoughts. Her single, “Job”, is a beautiful introduction to this record. A folky tune that will draw you in and have you waiting on tiptoe, listening intently to every word she sings, wondering what happens next in the story. You care about the character, you care about the singer, and you experience the song as a living being. It is reminiscent of classic Canadiana folk with hints of country guitar. It reads like a love letter to a stranger, with Heather describing this experience in her life infused with poeticism and smart pacing.
Heather May has a unique way of being both comforting and heart wrenching simultaneously. Of making you want to cry whilst being enamoured with the beauty of what you are hearing. There is something so personal about her music, like it is a secret that she wants to share only with you. No matter the environment, Heather can melt an audience like butter, and with this newest record she will have people resting their heads in their hands in awe. Sighs of relief, grief, lovelorn hearts, and happy breaths, there is something for everyone to lean into here.
-Krystle McGrath
